Commoner

About

Historically, the term referred to ordinary people in communities or nations who lacked significant social status and were not members of royalty, nobility, or aristocracy. The classification of commoners varied depending on cultural and historical context, with some elevated persons such as clergy members sometimes regarded as commoners if they lacked an aristocratic background, though in other cases they held higher social status in their own right. In legal contexts, particularly within English and Welsh land law, the term overlaps with a specific classification of people who possess property interests in common land, which has been a longstanding feature of property law. Those holding commoner status with rights to particular common lands were typically neighbors rather than members of the general public. In monarchic marriage terminology, the definition of commoners could extend to include members of aristocracy and nobility depending on their background and circumstances.